Monsoon conditions in the southwest are generally weak by world wet monsoon standards. Occasionally they are ferocious storms with large hail, intense lightening, wet and dry microburst, flash flooding, and even 4″ rain in under an hour.
A not too uncommon sunset
Many of our storms begin by orographic lift, then, depending on humidity levels, days heating and steering currents, stay at high terrain, or descend later into valleys at times and intensifying. Features such as retrograde lows from back east, or other embedded disturbances, even tropical storms, usually remnants, can greatly affect how the weather had heretofore been. Then back to that in a few days.
Where I live I may be offline many afternoons during July to mid September, due to lightning.
A 5 min. old rain down-shaft
